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Monday, June 14, 2010

What Our Military Allies Can Tell Us About the End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

It's in our national interest to let gays serve openly in the military. Anyone who believes that homosexuality is wrong should follow his or her own conscience, but should not harm our national security by demanding that the military interfere with the private lives of personnel.

Every gay-pride parade seems to have its share of sailor suits, aviator sunglasses, and camouflage trousers. In the United States, such costumes are often drawn from the Halloween bin, since gays cannot serve openly in the military, let alone march for pride in their official uniforms. But that’s not the case in Britain, where gay members of the Royal Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marines not only march but also move their partners into the military’s family housing. The armed forces has also embraced the shift—which came following a European Court of Human Rights ruling 1999—placing recruitment ads in gay publications, and, last summer, featuring an openly gay soldier on the cover of the military’s official magazine.U.S. Marine Corps and Navy personnel stand at the rails of the USS Iwo Jima as the amphibious assault ship enters New York Harbor for Fleet Week.

Britain isn’t the only U.S. ally to allow open gays in the military. More than 25 of our allies, including every original NATO signatory other than the U.S. and Turkey, have transitioned to an open military...